


The Meaning of Within

by butyoumight



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: Joe Gibkens, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-17
Updated: 2011-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-22 17:38:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/240748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butyoumight/pseuds/butyoumight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i><b>Literal Split Personality [Trope]:</b> A character gets split into two or more copies of themself, each of which reflects some facet of their personality.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

With one great sweeping strike of his sword, the last of the Goumin fell, and Marvelous turned to do a quick headcount of his crew as they approached him from varying parts of their makeshift battlefield.

"Oi." He pointed at each of them with a frown. "Where's Joe?"

The others exchanged glances among themselves, obviously only just realizing Joe's absence.

"He went after that Zangyack." Don said after a moments thought, pointing in the direction he remembered Joe chasing the Commander. Marvelous nodded and immediately headed the way indicated, his sword ready.

There was no sound of fighting coming from the alley Joe had apparently gone down, and Marvelous wasn't surprised to find a dead end waiting for them. What did surprise him was his first mate on the ground, curled on his side and unconscious.

"Joe!" The Captain ran to him, falling to his knees and pulling Joe into his arms, shaking him.

"Is he dead?" Gai squeaked. Ahim put a hand over her mouth.

In response, Joe gave a weak moan, and Marvelous shot the crew a cocky grin. "He'll be fine. Let's get him back to the ship."

Marvelous rose to his feet, lifting Joe from the ground and heading back out of the narrow alley. The rest of the crew fell into step behind him.

Not a single one of them heard the feeble stirring of another body in a shadowed corner of the alley.

Joe rolled over onto his stomach and crawled out into the open. He had a cut over his eye, steadily trickling blood and confusing his vision. There was no sign of the Commander he'd been fighting alone, nor of any of the crew.

Joe stood up, brushed himself off, and headed for the Galleon.

X

"Why isn't he awake yet?" Don asked, leaning over to look around Luka towards where Joe lie on the love seat. He'd hardly stirred at all while Ahim bandaged the cuts on his face, and even now that dinner had been served, was curled up on his side breathing deeply and for all intents and purposes deeply asleep.

Marvelous shrugged, pulling the plate Gai had filled for Joe over to his own empty spot. "He'll be fine. He's taken harder knocks to the head."

"But Marvelous-san, what if something happened to him?" Gai asked, also turning to look at Joe, who shifted a little on the couch as if he knew even in his sleep that they were talking about him.

Marvelous frowned and swallowed his mouthful of chicken. "Like what?"

"Like that Zangyack who made you all... _funya_." Don said, and Gai nodded, possibly more enthusiastically than necessary.

"He's not going _funya_." Luka pointed out. "He's just sleeping."

"It is true, however, that Joe-san rarely sleeps this long." Ahim added.

Gai and Don both turned to Marvelous again, nodding in tandem.

"You're all worrying too much!" Marvelous waved his hands in the air. "I'm telling you, he just needs some rest, and he'll be up and good as new! Who's known him the longest?"

"Marvelous!"

Marvelous' eyes very nearly fell clean out of his head. Joe was still asleep on the couch, stirring a bit, probably because of the Captain's raised voice. And yet from the stairwell came echoing what was very obviously Joe's voice, and he sounded angry.

"Marvelous, what's going on? What's happened, why'd you just leave?"

Marvelous stood up from the table and moved into the main room to find Joe coming up the stairs from the deck, blood all over his scowling face.

Marvelous stared at him, then glanced at the couch, where Joe sat up slowly, blinking and rubbing at his eyes.

"What happened?" The Joe standing in front of the Captain asked. "Is everyone alright?"

"Marvelous?" The Joe sitting on the couch asked, his voice soft and slow with the remnants of sleep.

"Joe?" Marvelous cleared his throat, looking between them. " _Joe_?"

"What?"

"Huh?"

The two Joes turned to look at each other as the others stood from the table and crowded behind Marvelous. There was silence in the cabin for a long moment before the talking and shouting started.

"What's going on?"

"Who is that?"

"He looks like me!"

"Joe-san?"

"Why are there two of him?"

"Zangyack!?"

"Quiet!" Marvelous shouted over all of them, drawing his sword from beneath his coat. "I want to know what's going on. Now."

Joe, or the Joe who was standing anyway, had also drawn his sword, and had it trained on his counterpart's face. For his part, the Joe on the couch was sitting up straight with his empty hands held out, staring up at the other Joe with wide disbelieving eyes.

"It's a Zangyack trick, obviously." The Joe with the sword said, moving the blade closer. "I think I'd be insulted that you could mistake anyone else for me, but it is a pretty good copy."

"A clone." The one sitting on the couch whispered, edging away from the sword in his face and shooting a frightened glance at Marvelous. "They must have made a clone of me. The commander..."

Marvelous looked between the two of them, his forehead creased and he realized the hand holding his sword was trembling slightly. This wasn't something he'd ever experienced before, and it was shaking him to his core. Had he accidentally brought an infiltrator aboard his ship?

"Joe..." He said carefully, and immediately winced when they both turned towards him. He cleared his throat. "Joe with the sword."

The standing Joe's eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"

"Put your sword away. Don't do anything rash."

"Marvelous, _it has my face_."

"I know that." Marvelous took a step closer, reached out to put a hand on Joe's wrist, gripping hard to make his fingers stop shaking. "But you have to think clearly."

"I'm not an it." The seated Joe said softly, still inching his way down the love seat and away from the threatening sword. "I'm Joe."

"Shut up!" The Joe standing snapped, would have obviously lunged at his counterpart if Marvelous hadn't been holding him. Marvelous stepped between them and frowned. For the first time he was beginning to doubt which Joe was the real one.

Marvelous had almost forgotten the others were there, until Luka cleared her throat. "Hey. I still want to know why there's two of Joe."

Marvelous frowned, and so did the Joe on the love seat. The other Joe with the bloody face just scowled some more. The thought hadn't occurred to Marvelous that they might somehow both be Joe. He turned to look at Luka, but her attention was focused solely on Don, as if she wouldn't take anyone's answer for fact until the mechanic had weighed in on the issue.

Don seemed to wilt under Luka's piercing stare, but he collected himself quickly and took a step forward, wiping his hands off on his apron. "I'll do a scan, if that's alright." He cleared his throat. "And maybe I could take a sample of blood?"

Marvelous nodded his agreement with this. He'd hardly admit it, but he was glad to have the decision taken out of his hands. He was angry at the thought of someone or some thing masquerading as his first mate, and he was frustrated with himself that he might possibly be unable to tell the difference.

The standing Joe put his sword away and stood up proudly, lifting a hand to wipe at the blood still trickling down his forehead. He offered his bloody hand to Don, who frowned slightly but took it in his stride, searching his pockets until Ahim came to his rescue, offering him one clean white handkerchief and taking another to the Joe still seated. "If I may, Joe-san?" She asked in that impossibly sweet voice that simply couldn't be denied.

He nodded and she reached up to peel away the bandage on his head. For the first time Marvelous noticed that the pair of them had identical wounds there.

Ahim wiped away the gathering of blood from beneath the bandage and passed the now soiled cloth to Don, who took it gingerly and headed immediately to the console. Navi lifted off from her perch on the Key chest and floated over to light on the console.

"Joe-san." Ahim said quietly, now addressing the standing Joe. "Please, sit and let me dress your wound."

He hesitated briefly but did as she asked, sitting beside the other only after giving him a devastating glare. The other Joe shifted aside immediately.

Marvelous threw himself into his chair and crossed his legs, carefully examining the mirror images of his first mate. After a moments quiet but for Don tapping away at the console and muttering softly with Navi, Marvelous sat up and looked towards Gai, standing still in the doorway.

"Ne, Gai. Is this familiar to you? Has this happened to other Sentai before?"

Gai blinked. Despite his insistence that they all learn their Sentai history, he still seemed taken aback every time they actively asked his opinion on anything. The fact that Marvelous cared enough to question him even when there was obviously no treasure to be had surprised him.

"Well." He mused, pacing a little. "There have been similar stories. Once, a Gedoushu masqueraded as ShinkenGreen, Tani Chiaki-san. They were trying to make the Shinkenger doubt one another."

"I'm not a Gedo-thing." One of the Joes said. The other shot him a narrow-eyed glare, inviting Ahim to smack his knee to make him bring his head back around so she could finish bandaging his head.

"A member of Zangyack could do the same thing, maybe?" Luka asked. Gai shrugged in response.

"I don't know, Luka-san."

Marvelous sighed. "Doc? Any results?"

Don turned around. "It's very strange. They're the same, genetically. Exact genetic copies."

"A clone, like I said." The quieter Joe said, which earned him another glare from his counterpart.

"I am no clone."

"No." Don agreed. "Neither of them are clones. Clones aren't exact, or perfect. And a clone this fast... No, it's not possible. There would be a remainder of growth increasing chemicals, a wash of hormones."

"What are you telling us, Doc?" Marvelous asked, putting a hand to his head, which was starting to ache.

"They're both Joe." Don said at last. "I mean, as far as I can tell. He's been duplicated somehow, or possibly split, but they're both him."

"Split?" Luka asked. "What do you mean, split?"

"Two halves of the same whole." Don clarified, or tried to, though it didn't really clear anything up.

"So how do we fix it?" Asked the freshly bandaged Joe, standing up and advancing on Don. Marvelous stood as well. There was something strange about this half of Joe, he was too aggressive, not at all like the Joe he was accustomed to.

Which didn't help matters in the slightest, as the Joe still seated folded his hands in his lap and looked incredibly meek. Again, not as Joe should normally look, even in so strange a situation as this.

Don spread his hands helplessly. "That I don't know."

"I still think Zangyack is to blame." The seated Joe shifted awkwardly when everyone turned to look at him, complete with a disbelieving snort from his other half. "The commander I was fighting on my own,"

"I was there too!" Spat the other Joe and Marvelous turned a frown on him, which went ignored, much to the Captain's surprise.

"We." The meeker Joe corrected himself. "We were fighting. He must have done this..."

"So we'll find him and destroy him!" The other Joe shouted.

"No!" Don exclaimed suddenly. "You can't do that!"

Joe, the angrier Joe, spun to glare at the mechanic. "Why not?"

"Because then you might be stuck this way!" Don explained hastily. "We have to find out how he did it first. If it was some technological device, simply defeating him would leave us helpless."

The standing Joe growled but made no other response. The seated Joe looked around the room and bit his lip. "So what do we do?"

Everyone looked towards Marvelous, who blinked. They were waiting for orders, and he found he had none to give. "For now... We wait."

The standing Joe heaved a frustrated sigh. The seated one nodded in agreement.

Marvelous felt very lost.


	2. Chapter 2

Marvelous was just preparing for bed when the commotion started right outside his quarters. He recognized the voice, or rather voices of Joe, and heaved himself out of bed, electing not to bother with putting his shirt back on as at least one of the voices was already shouting, and he had half a guess as to which one.

"This is my room!"

Marvelous opened his door, and one of the Joes fell against him immediately. He must have been backed against the door, cowering away from his angry counterpart. He was missing his own shirt, and Marvelous was quick to piece together what was going on.

"It's fine." The Joe leaning against Marvelous stepped away from the Captain. "I was just changing into something more comfortable. I'll sleep in the cabin, I don't mind."

"Oi." Marvelous said. They both turned to look at him in the same moment. It was eerie, but obvious now to Marvelous that they were indeed both Joe, or at least both a part of him. "The room belongs to both of you."

"It's fine, Marvelous." The shirtless Joe said softly. "I really don't mind. I can't share a bed with him, that would be..." He shuddered slightly and Marvelous raised an eyebrow. "Too strange. I'll sleep on the couch, it's no trouble."

"Just hurry up!" The short tempered one snarled, and the other Joe dashed past him into the room and shut the door behind himself.

"Hey!" Joe moved to throw the door open, but Marvelous grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.

"Oi, Joe. Be nicer to him, okay? He is you, after all."

"Only barely." Joe scoffed and kicked at the floor. "I can't believe that was ever a part of me. How did I ever fight with a coward inside?"

Marvelous frowned and pulled his hand away as if burned. "You're not a coward, Joe."

"That thing with my face certainly is."

Marvelous shook his head, tried to find the right thing to say, but his mind was blank. Was his Joe really like this, on the inside? Mean and waspish and petty? It reminded him of Basco in a way that made his stomach twist, not Basco now but Basco as he had been, when he was Marvelous' equal aboard the Galleon, serving under AkaRed.

Before he could find any words, the door opened again and Joe slipped out, his hair loose and falling around his shoulders. Barefooted and wearing only loose pants and a long plain shirt, he bowed deeply to Marvelous and the other Joe and hurried away down the hall towards the main room without a word.

"Finally." Joe grumbled, shooting a glance at Marvelous. "Good night, Marvelous."

Marvelous swallowed, and it hurt somewhat. "Night, Joe."

Joe closed the door and Marvelous retreated back into his room, hoping he'd be able to sleep.

X

Don was often the last to bed. He liked to do as much prep work in the galley as he could for the next day's meals. He rested easier knowing his duties tomorrow would be that much less.

He placed two covered dishes into the icebox, ready for heating come the morning, and carefully closed his beloved recipe book. Finally shucking his apron and hanging it beside the stove, he headed into the main room with a prodigious yawn and the satisfaction of a night well spent.

Don paused in the main room, frowning slightly. "Joe?"

Joe looked around from where he was spreading a blanket over the small love seat. "Good evening, Doc."

Don folded his hands in front of him and bounced a little on his toes. "What are you doing?"

Joe shrugged and flopped onto the couch, pulling the edge of the blanket over himself. "Going to bed. Aren't you?"

"Well, yeah." Don dragged one foot against the floor. "But why are you sleeping out here?"

Joe shrugged again. "The other... You know, Joe, he took my... Our quarters. For himself. I wouldn't be able to sleep in there with him anyway."

Don frowned and took a few steps towards Joe. Joe shifted a bit on the couch, obviously searching for a comfortable position. "You can't sleep out here." Don said softly. "You won't get any rest like that. Look, you don't even fit. Your feet are hanging off."

Joe blinked at Don for a long moment, and then he did something completely unexpected to Don. He started to laugh. Really laugh.

Don liked to think he knew the crew pretty well. He'd spent enough time with them by now, he tailored the menu of the entire ship around the wants and needs of each member, after all. And in all the time Don had known Joe, he had never seen Joe laugh. He was amused occasionally, he would show it with a gentle smirk, a slight snort. Sometimes even a soft chuckle, but only rarely.

This was a real laugh, open mouthed and truly happy. Don could see the way one of Joe's eye teeth stuck out sharp in front of the others, which certainly he'd noticed before but only when Joe grimaced in pain. Never in this context.

Don knew it was strange, he knew he was supposed to be confused and maybe even uncomfortable, he was supposed to want to find the way to fix Joe and make him the way he had been before. And so he felt bad, just a little guilty, at how much he liked this aspect of Joe, soft-spoken and kind and laughing.

"Joe." Don said carefully. "Would you like to stay in my quarters tonight?"

Joe looked up at him, surprised, but a slow smile spread over his face. Like the laugh, it was wider than Don had ever seen on his face. "I would like that a lot, Doc."

Don nodded, almost a bow, and held out a hand. "Come on, then."

X

Marvelous was awake far earlier than he would be on a normal day. He remembered when he woke that this day was bound to be far from average.

The Captain made his way to the main room, almost concerned about what he might find. He had every reason to be worried, it turned out, as Joe was causing some kind of row.

"He's gone, you see? A double, a Zangyack trick! What did I say?"

"Calm down, Joe-san." Ahim said sternly.

"Besides," Luka added from the love seat, sorting through her jewelry as she did many mornings. "It was him that said that."

"What's going on?" Marvelous asked. Joe turned to face him, and pointed towards the love seat. Beside Luka, a blanket was bunched up, obviously out of its usual place.

"He's gone, probably to bring Zangyack here. He said he was going to sleep out here, and he's not."

"You don't know that, Joe. You're jumping to conclusions." Marvelous moved to the Key chest and flipped it open. "See? Everything's in its place. Did you ask Navi?"

They all paused when a chorus of ringing laughter sounded from the galley. Marvelous frowned. One of those laughs was unfamiliar to him.

He crossed the room to peek into the galley, and was perfectly surprised by what he found.

Joe stood at the oven, laughing, really laughing aloud and wiping flour off of his face. Don had flour all over his hands and was also laughing, giggling mischievously. There was food ready to be served on the stove, and a cake cooling on one of the counters. Gai stood in one corner, looking shocked but still smiling.

"What's going on here?" Marvelous asked, staring openly at Joe. The flour was sticking to his cheeks and hands, his eyes were watering from his laughter. He'd never seen Joe like this before.

"I was just trying to frost the cake for breakfast, and he threw flour at me!"

Don giggled. "I couldn't help myself."

Marvelous blinked, someone behind him cleared his throat. It was the other Joe, frowning at the scene in front of him. "You made a cake for breakfast?" He asked, his voice tight with annoyance.

The other Joe blinked, beneath the remnants of flour he started to blush. "I thought Ahim might like it."

The Joe at his back made a disgusted sound and turned away, stalking back into the main room and throwing himself down on his bench.

Marvelous sighed and turned back towards the galley. "Breakfast?"

Don nodded. "Of course, Marvelous, we'll set it out right away."

Marvelous returned to the main room and sat in his chair. Joe was already well into his sit-ups, counting away under his breath. Ahim had passed Marvelous on his way in to take his place in the cramped kitchen and start the tea. Luka had put away the last of her jewels and was simply sitting, watching Joe curiously.

"Why isn't the other one working out?" She mused aloud after a moment. Marvelous blinked at her, but it was Joe who answered, half-breathless, his words stalling between sit-ups.

"Because he's useless."

"Don't say that." Marvelous said wearily. "He's not useless. He's still you."

"I told you last night," Joe grunted. "I shudder to think that thing was ever a part of me."

"Well he was. Is. Will be, when we figure this out."

"Glad it wasn't me." Luka said. Marvelous frowned at her, but she continued undeterred. "I think I'd probably kill myself if all my weaknesses were displayed like that."

"He's not weak!" Don was standing in the doorway, looking as fierce as he could brandishing a serving spoon and wearing his apron. "It's just the other side of Joe."

"The weaker side." The Joe at the bench said, sitting up one last time and stretching his arms over his head. "Breakfast?"

"It's ready." Don grumbled, then he shook his spoon at Joe. "And you should be nicer to yourself, he hasn't done anything to you."

Joe ignored him, and Marvelous noticed their usually reserved mechanic was positively fuming.

Marvelous was presented with another conflict before he'd even managed to take his first bite of food. A part of him (the part nearest his stomach) wanted to just let it slide and start eating, but the greater part of him, the prideful and protective part, spoke up instead. "Oi, Joe. Where are you going?"

Joe (Marvelous hated himself a little for thinking of him as 'meek Joe', though there was no real better way to differentiate) paused in the doorway, looking back at the table with a little shrug. He was awkwardly balancing two plates across his arms, and had a tea cup cradled in the crook of his elbow. He hesitated and ducked his head, but made no other response.

Marvelous' stomach rumbled a protest but Marvelous set his fork down. "Are you a part of this crew or not?"

"I am." Joe said softly.

"Then you'll sit with us when we eat."

Joe shook his head slightly. "There aren't enough chairs, Marvelous."

He was right. Marvelous glanced around the table. To his right sat the other Joe, already eating and purposefully oblivious to the fact that the Captain was holding up the meal. Beside him sat Luka. To Marvelous' left sat Ahim, sipping at her tea, and beside her was Don. Across from Marvelous sat Gai, sitting patiently, waiting for Marvelous to start eating.

There truly was no room at the table for a seventh person, it was painfully obvious. Marvelous frowned. In the doorway, Joe bowed slightly. "Don't trouble yourself, Marvelous."

"I won't." Marvelous said, but he stood up anyway, picking up his own plate with one hand and his tea with the other.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked, backing up a few paces.

"I feel like eating in the main room today." Marvelous announced to the table. He noticed Ahim smiling into her tea, and Gai immediately gathering his own meal to join them. Marvelous could say one thing for the boy, he was remarkably loyal to his Captain.

"Don't, don't worry about it." Joe muttered, still backing into the main room. "Marvelous, really, it's nothing."

"You're not less than us." Marvelous said loudly, glancing back at the other Joe. "You're not going to eat alone like an outcast."

Joe gulped and shook his head. "Suit yourself." He was trying to sound dismissive, but Marvelous could see the way his ears had flushed red.

Marvelous smiled to himself as he settled down in his chair, balancing his plate across his knees and finally getting to please his grumbling stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

Marvelous has half a thought that this is going to be a mistake. That was why, for the first time, he decided to go shopping himself. Usually he asked two members of the crew, or sometimes Joe would go on his own (or try to, but someone would always follow him to help).

"Joe." Marvelous said, and cleared his throat. "And Joe." It was strange, but he still couldn't find a kind way to differentiate between them, not verbally. They seemed to automatically do that on their own, the more headstrong Joe assuming he was always being spoken to first. "Come on, we're going shopping."

The gentle Joe smiled, obviously trying not to laugh. "You are?" He swept a hand over the table, neatly gathering his deck of cards. "You?"

Marvelous flashed him his Cheshire grin. "Why not?"

"You're being weird, Marvelous." The other Joe said, sitting up on his bench and leaning over to grab a towel from the floor and wipe the back of his neck. "Is this because of me? Because of what happened?"

Marvelous hesitated and then shook his head. "Of course not!"

"You're lying." Joe stood up. "But that's fine. I'd like to see you shopping."

The Joe on the couch placed his deck of cards carefully away and also stood up.

Marvelous watched the pair of them prepare to leave the ship. It was strange, how they moved in almost exactly the same ways. Flipping their coats around their shoulders, pulling out first their ponytails and then adjusting their necklaces. Shifting a hand to rotate their bracelets so they settled comfortably around their wrists. It was never more obvious that they were in fact somehow both Joe, both his Joe.

Marvelous didn't want to play favorites. That felt wrong, and somehow cruel. So he didn't say anything about it, not even to Don, who obviously felt the same way. But he was finding that if he had to be stuck with just one half of Joe, he might just prefer the soft-spoken one. It didn't help that the more time he spent with the other Joe, the more he was reminded of a young Basco. That would be fine, if not for the fact that this left the Captain inadvertently waiting for his first mate to betray him.

"Come on, wimp." The Joe in question snapped at his counterpart, who frowned slightly but bowed his head and dropped into step behind him.

"Joe, don't." Marvelous grumbled as they headed towards the deck. "Don't call him that."

Joe raised an eyebrow at him, slowing down in his fast pace to look at the Captain. The other Joe kept moving forward, his ears showing pink. Marvelous sighed and looked at the first. "Why are you being rude?"

"I'm not. He's me. I can treat him however I want."

Marvelous rolled his eyes and continued out onto the deck. "If he's you, you could be decent enough to call him by name."

Joe scoffed. "He's not really Joe. Does he act like me?"

Marvelous sighed. The other Joe was already on the ground, looking up at the ship waiting for them. "You can't have it both ways, Joe. Either he's a part of you or he's not. But either way, you don't have to be such an ass."

Without another word, Marvelous swung out onto one of the anchor lines to slide down to the ground. Joe did the same on the other side of the ship, and he was frowning when the three met again, looking at Marvelous with a crease between his eyebrows. He didn't say anything, but Marvelous could tell he was thinking unfavorably about what the Captain had said.

"Let's go." The Captain said, moving forward and throwing an arm around the quiet Joe's shoulders and giving him a shake. The other Joe hung back, falling into step behind them. Marvelous leaned close to speak in an undertone into Joe's ear. "Don't take it too hard."

Joe smiled at him. It still struck Marvelous how different he looked when he smiled, a proper smile like that, with his eyes squinting, causing little wrinkles at the corners. "I'm not. I'm used to it."

Marvelous frowned. "What do to mean, used to it? Used to what?"

Joe chuckled softly and shook his head, slipping Marvelous' arm from around his shoulders. "Thinking poorly of myself."

He jogged on ahead with that, but Marvelous stopped in his tracks, looking after him and then back at the other Joe.

Maybe this shouldn't have been news to him. Maybe he should have known this about his first mate, who he claimed to know better than anyone in the galaxy. But the idea of Joe hating himself had never occurred to the Captain, and it made him feel decidedly uncomfortable. Marvelous was too proud a person to consider the thought of self-loathing, and possibly too oblivious to imagine Joe, whom he loved and respected, feeling that way.

The other Joe sidled up to him, nudged his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Marvelous said, too quickly and drawing a confused glance from Joe. Marvelous tried to play it off with a smirk. "Come on, let's get going."

Shopping wasn't an entirely new experience for Marvelous. He'd obviously had to do it before, as a plain crewman. He'd always gone with Basco, who had a certain savvy for deals and incredible charm that garnered him surprising discounts from shopkeepers. And of course Marvelous had done his best to feed himself, and later Joe and Luka, before Don had joined the crew and started making shopping lists.

Still, shopping on Earth was a newer experience, and he found himself a little confused by the amazing array of products the planet presented him with. He stuck close between the two Joes and mostly just watched them, for once acting as if they'd once been parts of a single whole. He was surprised by how finite some of the splits between them were. The gentler Joe had Don's list and was efficient in finding the items on it, and clever enough to make alterations and additions where necessary. The other Joe seemed to have all of Joe's sense of pride and insisted on carrying nearly everything, doing so with ease.

Marvelous is beginning to wonder whether Zangyack was spying on them and orchestrating their attacks to coincide with when the pirates were attempting to stock their larder. No sooner had Joe proclaimed their trip complete was there a commotion outside, Earthlings running by and screaming in terror. Marvelous heaved a sigh.

"What is this, the fifth time?" He grumbled to himself, which earned him a cocky smirk from the Joe carrying all their bags. He turned to his counterpart and thrust the groceries at him.

"Stay here."

The other Joe took the bags without complaint, even offered a little bow. "Of course."

Joe pulled his Mobirates out and then stopped, reaching back into his pocket with a growl. "Where is it?"

Marvelous had already transformed but hesitated, poised to launch after the threat. "What's wrong?"

"My Ranger Key, where's my Ranger Key!?"

The other Joe jumped slightly. "Oh!" He crouched down to place their groceries on the ground and pulled the little trinket from an inside pocket of his coat. "Here."

Marvelous thought it a little odd that their clothes and all of Joe's usually accessories had all duplicated with them, but the Mobirates hadn't. Joe snatched the Key out of his other half's hand and transformed quickly, drawing his sword. "Let's go!"

X

After the fight was over, which was quite quickly once the other four showed up, Marvelous was able to reflect seriously on the problem with Joe. And it really was a problem, that was obvious now.

The Joe who had fought with them was just as ferocious on the battlefield as he'd ever been, perhaps even more so. But he was also more reckless than Marvelous had ever seen him, and Marvelous had watched Joe fight on the brink of death, and against nearly insurmountable odds. He'd never known Joe not to be mindful of his comrades, but Marvelous could attest to the fact that this particular aspect of Joe was concerned firstly with the defeat of their opponents. He didn't speak to the others, but it was obvious that they were inadvertently getting in his way, or that was how he felt about it anyway.

They gathered in the main room, except for Don and Gai who were already busy with preparing some of the food that the other Joe had managed not only to return to the ship, but put carefully away.

Despite the single-mindedness of the way the brusque side of Joe fought, Marvelous was well aware that they couldn't do away with that side of him either. The other Joe had been obviously scared stiff of the thought of entering battle, and Marvelous knew that if his crew was ever going to be right again, they'd have to find a way to put Joe back together.

"The commander wasn't there." Joe announced to the room at large from his bench.

"No." Luka confirmed, looking towards the other Joe, who seemed not at all invested in the conversation, and was instead looking in the direction of the galley sort of wistfully.

"I hope nothing has happened to keep that one from meeting us again." Ahim said softly.

Marvelous nodded. "That would be bad." He agreed. "We have to fix Joe."

Joe sat up on his bench with a sigh. He looked towards his counterpart and frowned slightly at the longing look on his face. "I'm not broken."

Marvelous closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. Considering he very rarely got headaches, it proved that if anything the two Joes were remarkably effecient at irritating him. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did you mean?" Joe sighed and flung his towel across the room. His aim was impecceble and the towel draped itself over the other Joe's head neatly. "Hey, wimp. We're talking about you. Pay attention or get out."

Joe pulled the towel off his head slowly, pursing his lips at his counterpart with an expression that Marvelous would have to say was obviously a pout. He'd never seen Joe _pout_ before either.

"Joe, I told you not to call him that." Marvelous repeated himself wearily. Joe rolled his eyes in return.

Marvelous looked to the other Joe, who was carefully folding the thrown towel, watching the movement of his own hands carefully, his ears flushed pink. Marvelous stood up, crossed the room to Joe and put a hand gently on his shoulder, leaning down to speak into his ear. "You can stand up for yourself, you know."

Joe shook his head a little, glanced past Marvelous at his other half, who had rolled off his bench to do push-ups instead. "No. I can't. But it's okay."

Marvelous sighed. "Why can't you?"

Don appeared in the doorway, wiping his hands on his apron. "Dinner's ready."

Marvelous winced a little as Joe stood up and almost fell over himself to meet Don at the door. He wasn't going to be getting any answers tonight. He stood up, and followed his nose to the table, and the food waiting for him. He could consider their options better once he'd fed his ravenous appetite. He'd always said you couldn't think on an empty stomach.


End file.
